Meet the Winners of our 2023 Poetry Competition

Published on 25 September 2023

We had an incredible number of entries for this year's Poetry Competition - a total of 123 entries across all age categories. 

Today we proudly announced the winning and shortlisted entries of this celebrated event. 

ADULT CATEGORY

Winners

First place: "The Forest(PDF, 188KB)" by Angele Toomey

Second place: "Someday Always(PDF, 51KB)" by Michelle McCulley

Third place: "Nothing lasts forever(PDF, 29KB)" by Devon Johnston

Shortlisted

• "Conjuring ghosts(PDF, 24KB)" by Hellie Hadfield
• "An ode to friendship(PDF, 5MB)" by Chrissy McCawe
• "Friendship(PDF, 17KB)" by Marion Callus
• "Friendship(PDF, 24KB)" by Moira Hansen
• "Mangow(PDF, 127KB)" by Pornjana Lodder
• "I sat alone in my room(PDF, 22KB)" by Jamie Webb
• "Old man(PDF, 98KB)" by ZN Manley

Special mentions 

• "Dearest Margot(PDF, 106KB)" by Stephanie Cross
• "It used to be(PDF, 11KB) " by Cyndi Miller
• "Winter bloom(PDF, 104KB)" by Hamish Julian-Lillas

TEEN CATEGORY

Winners

First place: "Real friends(PDF, 47KB)" by Kathryn Eagle

Second place: "Cherish(PDF, 15KB)" by Jess Frew

Third place: "What is friendship?(PDF, 25KB)" by Aryanna Billington

Shortlisted

• "Friendship(PDF, 251KB)" by Charlotte Arcus
• "Friendship is the growing of a flower(PDF, 2MB)" by Eva Carlaw
• "Telling It(PDF, 40KB)" by Izzy Driscoll
• "Friends in a storm(PDF, 13KB)" by Russell Foon
• "Friendship(PDF, 14KB)" by Florence Langford
• "Just friends(PDF, 88KB)" by Riya Naidu
• "The Segregation Era- 1900-1940(PDF, 118KB) "by Georgia Sole

Special mention

"Build-A-Bestie.com(PDF, 40KB) by Kathryn Eagle

CHILDREN CATEGORY

Winners

First place: "My best friend(PDF, 14KB)" by Liv Jacobs

Second place: "Friendship(PDF, 39KB)" by Lucy Pattinson

Third place: "Brothers(PDF, 41KB)" by Russell Leenders

Shortlisted

• "Friendship(PDF, 43KB)" by Augustine Kelly
• "A friend never forgotten(PDF, 8KB)" by Henry Towersey
• "Summertime(PDF, 17KB)" by Liv Jacobs
• "Friendship(PDF, 53KB)" by Mila van der Westhuizen
• "Fluffy(PDF, 100KB)"  by Emily Ginnane
• "Forever together(PDF, 48KB)" by Kejora Yogobi
• "Friendly(PDF, 8KB)" by Jeremy Zhang

Special mention

"You are a part of me(PDF, 14KB)" by Seanna Amour G. Fernandez

Our panel of judges had the challenging task of selecting the shortlisted poems from a diverse pool of submissions. Each poem was a unique piece of art, offering insights into the hearts and minds of our community members.

As we sit back and think about the outcomes and why this is important to us, two important reasons stand out. The Poetry Competition continues to be a tradition at Upper Hutt Libraries because we want to provide a platform for budding poets in our community to shine. This competition encourages individuals of all ages to unleash their creativity and share their unique perspectives on life through the play of words. The Award Night brings our community closer together, to appreciate the talented wordsmiths amongst us.

Thank you to our returning poets and to everyone in our community who gave poetry a go for the first time. We are looking forward to your entries next year when we return with our 2024 Poetry Competition.

Poetry will always be a powerful medium for human expression, weaving emotions, thoughts, and dreams into words that touch the soul.

"The poetry of the earth is never dead." - John Keats